Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices

Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.

You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!

Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.

Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.

Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

For MySQL, you have three choices. Using "yum install mysql" along with Centos's repository is the simplest, but installs a very old version. Or you can go with "official" documentation at MySQL.com, but it has a few gotchas. The following seems like the best of both worlds.

As for PHP, I think compiling from source is the way to go as it allows for flexibility.

Be advised that neither rpm nor yum will be able to update PHP if you install from source. The same applies to any package installed from source on an rpm based system.

Quote:

In regards to Apache, I would like your opinions which way would be best, and why:
1. Use yum along with Cento's repository.
2. Install using rmp. If so, will the way I did MySQL work?
3. Install by source.

Use yum to install from the CentOS repo. If you want to upgrade to a later version, which is also in the repo, you can specify the version number in your yum command.

This example for MySQL also applies to Apache:

Quote:

Use yum to upgrade to the version number you want.

yum upgrade mysql-14.14

Check the dependencies list before hitting Y. You might need to add other packages to the upgrade list

The problem as I see it is Centos is not very diligent on upgrading their servers. It appears that the latest versions are PHP 5.3.3.22, MySQL 5.1.69, and Apache 2.2.155. I suppose I can start seaching for other repos, but don't know if I am confortable doing so.

Unless you NEED (not want) the absolute latest, go with the Centos repo versions.
Otherwise you risk breaking dependencies & other issues.
Note that RedHat (Centos is a free rebuild) does actually backport fixes from newer versions, hence the long version strings.
You can always check the release notes if you absolutely require something you think isn't there in the base version.

Sometimes with PHP I need some new feature. As for the other two, I don't necessarily need the latest, but don't want any security holes either.

Apache httpd 2.2.15 was released on 2010-03-07 15:08. There appears to be a whole string of patches to address security concerns. I am new to all this, but have some concerns of using such an old platform. Should I not be?

As for MySQL, does my use of yum on the rpm package not protect against breaking dependencies & other issues? Probably not, but you can't blame for for hoping!

Also, back to Apache, will creating an RPM as described below and using yum to install provide any advantages?

Thanks

Quote:

While many distributions make Apache httpd available as operating system supported packages, it can sometimes be desirable to install and use the canonical version of Apache httpd on these systems, replacing the natively provided versions of the packages.

While the Apache httpd project does not currently create binary RPMs for the various distributions out there, it is easy to build your own binary RPMs from the canonical Apache httpd tarball.

This document explains how to build, install, configure and run Apache httpd 2.4 under Unix systems supporting the RPM packaging format.

Ah. The thing here is that all those security fixes you mentioned are backported to the latest EL httpd package. So, if you have 2.2.15 from RHEL, SL or CENTOS you will find it already has those patches in it.

The problem as I see it is Centos is not very diligent on upgrading their servers. It appears that the latest versions are PHP 5.3.3.22, MySQL 5.1.69, and Apache 2.2.155. I suppose I can start seaching for other repos, but don't know if I am confortable doing so.

Am I missing something?

Yes! The whole point of Red Hat (and hence CentOS) is stability. It's not lack of diligence, but deliberate policy: let other people (millions of them) use the software first to make sure it's sound.

Thanks szboardstretcher, I did find it odd how Apache was such an old version. I am curious on who takes the time applying fixes to older software versions (I assume that is what backported means?), but will take your word on it.

Thanks DavidMcCann and John VV, I was not saying CentOS is not concerned about security, only my limited view (which is undoubtedly wrong) implied they were.